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Shawn Spears v.s Wardlow inside a Steel Cage.
Credit: AEW
AEW Dynamite, the go-home show for AEW Double or Nothing from Las Vegas, Nev., featured a pivotal Steel Cage Match between Wardlow and Shawn Spears with MJF as a special guest referee. Dynamite also featured semifinal action in the men’s and women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament and CM Punk and Adam Cole coming face-to-face.
AEW Dynamite Match Card | May 25, 2022
- Wardlow vs. Shawn Spears—Steel Cage Match with MJF as Special Guest Referee
- Samoa Joe vs. Kyle O’Reilly—Owen Hart Foundation Semifinal
- FTR vs. Roppongi Vice—ROH Tag Team Championship
- Toni Storm vs. Britt Baker—Owen Hart Foundation Semifinal
- Jungle Boy vs. Shane Swerve Scott vs. Ricky Starks
- Private Party vs. Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston
- CM Punk and Hangman Adam Page come Face-to-Face
Last week’s broadcast of AEW Dynamite garnered 840,000 viewers as the show came under 900,000 for the second consecutive week. The last time AEW Dynamite drew under 900,000 viewers in three consecutive weeks was from November to December in 2021.
- May 18, 2022—922,000
- May 11, 2022—840,000
- May 4, 2022—833,000
- April 27, 2022—921,000
- April 20, 2022—930,000
- AEW Dynamite Venue: Michelob ULTRA Center (Las Vegas, Nev.)
- AEW Tickets Distributed: 4,751
- AEW Tickets Available: 1,234
AEW Dynamite YouTube Viewership Last Wednesday: 4,123,855 (Up from 3,628,980)
- Most-Viewed: Samoa Joe vs. John Morrison (1,000,448 views)
- Least-Viewed: Britt Baker vs. Maki Itoh (126,372 views)
- Median Viewership: 511,750 views
AEW Dynamite Results | May 25, 2022
Wardlow vs. Shawn Spears
Wardlow paid tribute to Shawn Michaels with his referee attire, rife with compression biker shorts.
Fans broke out into a “Ten” chant early in this match, and I don’t know whether they were supporting Shawn Spears or trolling him.
Not only did Wardlow kick out of a finisher, he kicked out despite a fast count from MJF, you almost never see that.
Jim Ross made a subtweet at WWE Steel Cage matches by asking “how do you win with a retreat?”
MJF took a chairshot directly in the head from Spears after Wardlow moved. I’m guessing the chair was gimmicked, but AEW doesn’t have a great history with gimmicked chairs.
Before going to commercial, Jim Ross made a poignant statement about the recent mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
CM Punk and Hangman Adam Page come Face-to-Face
If tonight’s reactions from this Vegas crowd was any indication, CM Punk will be the bigger babyface during his main event match against Hangman Adam Page.
Of course, Page made a timely reference to CM Punk’s pipebomb promo, which happened in Las Vegas.
Hangman Adam Page said he wanted to defend the AEW World Championship from CM Punk. That was the moment I knew he was very likely winning.
Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston def. Private Party
Eddie Kingston has updated his ring gear to look more like Kevin Owens, though he now wears cross trainers instead of boots. It fits Eddie Kingston’s character, sure, but he might have the worst ring gear in the company.
Marq Quen hit a Shooting-Star Press that was a thing of beauty.
FTR def. Roppongi Vice by DQ—ROH Tag Team Championship
There was no reaction for Roppongi Vice as all things ROH continue to be met with apathy in AEW.
As technically sound as this (mostly quiet) match was, the highlight was Caprice Coleman on commentary.
There was a great nearfall breakup that got the crowd into this match toward the end, only for Jeff Cobb and The Great O-Khan. A pocket of men started chanting “holy [expletive],” but nobody else cared.
Shane Swerve Scott def. Ricky Starks and Jungle Boy
This match was a tremendous follow-up to a boring and niche tag team match from last segment.
Swerve won this match, and even though he didn’t pin Jungle Boy, this furthered Jungle Boy’s losing streak storyline. I fully expect AEW to crown its first Black tag team champions this Sunday.
Thunder Rosa Appears Live
Thunder Rosa cut a solid promo, but this feud is beyond saving. Thankfully, the match is shaping up to be very good.
Thunder Rosa’s music came on before she was done with the promo, which is a perfect microcosm of how disorganized AEW is when it comes to booking women.
Britt Baker def. Toni Storm—Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Semifinal
The two Owen Hart Foundation semifinal matches were billed as AEW’s “double main event.”
This crowd was mostly behind Britt Baker, and for a match that could go either way there really wasn’t too much heat for the early portion.
As Britt Baker and Toni Storm exchanged punches, fans used their “boos” on Storm.
Storm and Baker had a couple hiccups throughout the match, possibly due to chemistry issues in their first AEW match.
Storm was bloodied toward the end of this sloppy match, which furthered tensions between Baker and Jamie Hayter, who interfered despite Baker telling her to stay in the back.
Samoa Joe def. Kyle O’Reilly—Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Semifinal
Samoa Joe and Kyle O’Reilly in this main event might be a tough sell for many viewers given the level of competition from postseason sports.
Jim Ross called this main event a “slobber knocker and a half,” which might be a first.
Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole should be an excellent pay-per-view quality match at AEW Double or Nothing. I wouldn’t mind seeing Samoa Joe winning it all.
Jim Ross called Double or Nothing the biggest event of the year, so I guess that makes it AEW’s de facto WrestleMania. Still, AEW doesn’t have an event that is treated with that type of reverence just yet.
